Jackets remain unbeaten in division play

Turnovers have been a problem for the Union Yellowjackets all season. 

But the Yellowjackets went turnover free on Friday night and cruised to a 47-20 win over J.Z. George to stay unbeaten in division 4-2A play.

Union improves to 3-5 on the season and will host Sebastopol on Friday night.

Union coach Jordan Wren said it his team’s cleanest game of the season and it showed on the scoreboard.

“We finally went turnover free,” Wren said. “We had no interceptions, no fumbles, no blocked punt and we ran the clock on them. That was our cleanest game of the year. I was a little aggravated how we tackles because they scrambled and were able to sustain some drives. We are going to have to do a better job of tackling this next two weeks with who we are playing.”

After swapping possessions to start the game, Union scored first as Quinn Harris scored on a 35-yard run. Aidan Davis scored the two-point conversion and Union led 8-0.

J.Z. George put together a 14-play drive on the ensuing possession but turned the ball over on downs. Union then went 82 yards in seven plays as Semaj Burnside scored on a 9-yard run. The try for two failed and Union led 14-0.

J.Z. George again turned the ball over on downs and Union struck with a big play as Burnside scored on a 49-yard run. The PAT failed and Union led 20-0.

J.Z. George got its only points of the half as they scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 1:56 left in the half to cut the score to 20-6.

Union responded with an eight-play drive as Myilan Moore hit Zie Buckley on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Davis ran in the two-point conversion and Union led 28-6 at the half. 

“I thought we ran the ball really well,” Wren said. “We had three backs over 100 yards and that’s huge. I thought Myilan did a good job throwing. We had three drops so he really should have been 12-of-15 passing. He finally looked healthy. That’s the first time we have let him run the ball and he looked good. And we were able to sit some folks so maybe we will be healthy for these last two weeks.”

J.Z. George got the ball to start the second half but turned the ball over on downs. Union answered with an eight-play, 49-yard drive as Harris scored on a 6-yard run. Davis kicked the PAT and Union led 35-6.

The Jaguars answered with a seven-play drive and scored on a 21-yard run to cut the leads to 35-12 with 3:31 left in the third.

The Yellowjackets answered right back with a six-play, 48-yard drive as Moore scored on a 25-yard run. The PAT failed and Union led 41-12.

After the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs, Union hit a big play as Kobe Hutchins scored on an 81-yard touchdown run with 8:20 left in the game. The PAT failed and Union led 47-12 to start the clock running. 

J.Z. added a late score for the final score of 47-20.

The Yellowjackets had their best offensive night of the season with 110 yards passing and 390 yards rushing for 500 yards of total offense. 

Moore was 9-of-15 passing for 110 yards and yards and one TD. He also had 29 yards rushing on four carries. Mason Tucker had five catches for 55 yards while Bucky had three catches for 43 yards. 

Burnside had 141 yards on nine carries with two TDs while Harris had 103 yards on nine carries. Kobe Hutchins had 101 yards on four carries with one TD. 

On defense, William Breedlove and Jordan Smith each had nine tackles while Quinn Harris and Moonie Harris each had seven tackles. Aidan Davis also had seven tackles and three tackles for loss while Buckley had five tackles. Omarri Holliday and Hutchins each had four tackles while Cameron Campbell had three tackles. Aidan Easterling and Jon Perry also had two tackles. 

This week’s game

Union will be back home this week as they host Sebastopol in a key division 4-2A contest for both squads.

Union is 2-0 in division play while Sebastopol is 0-2. The Bobcats are 5-3 overall with wins over McAdams (63-0), Lake (13-0), Southeast Lauderdale (43-14), Leake County (34-8) and Mount Olive (55-20). They have losses to Pisgah (32-14), Philadelphia (68-45) and Eupora (22-14).

“We know what we have to do against them,” Wren said. “We have to line up right to all of their formations and identify where (Adarius) McDougle is and tackle him. It’s really that simple. If we can stop him, we have a good chance t win. It should be a fun game and will be a really big crowd.”

Last year, Union handed Sebastopol their first loss of the season with a 56-21 loss.